Prince William penned a touching note to “incredible” Kate Middleton Thursday to celebrate her 43rd birthday, her first after finishing chemotherapy.

The couple released Matt Porteous’ stunning black-and-white portrait of the Princess of Wales on their official Instagram account, showing Kate with her hands in jean pockets, a cuffed blazer and gingham scarf as she smiles, looking off into the distance.

William began the tribute by crowning Kate as “the most incredible wife and mother,” four months to the day after she announced she had completed chemotherapy.

He praised the “remarkable” strength she’s displayed over the past year, which William has previously called “brutal,” as both Kate and King Charles simultaneously battled cancer.

“George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you,” continued the prince. “Happy Birthday, Catherine. we love you. W.”

In December, the couple released their annual Christmas greeting, though unlike previous ones, they used a previously seen family portrait. The photo was a still from the family’s September announcement that Kate was cancer-free.

In January 2024, Kate disappeared from the public eye amid a“successful” abdominal surgery, triggering both concern and speculation when her absence stretched until March. Weeks after her father-in-law had done the same, Kate revealed she’d been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.

She eventually returned to public royal duties in a more limited capacity, confirming on Sept. 9 that she was in remission.

In November, William described 2024 as “dreadful,” adding it was likely “the hardest year” he’d ever experienced.

Just last week, William said he was “shocked and saddened” to learn that Edward Pettifer, the stepson of his and Prince Harry’s former nanny, was the final victim identified in the New Year’s day New Orleans truck attack.

News broke, in the wake of the French Quarter ramming that left over a dozen dead, that neither William nor his 76-year-old monarch father would attend the Jan. 9 state funeral of former president Jimmy Carter. At the time, it was unclear whether that was due to previous commitments or security concerns.

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Judge extends Megan Thee Stallion’s protection order against rapper Tory Lanez until 2030

LOS ANGELES — Megan Thee Stallion has been granted a restraining order from imprisoned rapper Tory Lanez until early 2030.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Bloom on Thursday granted Megan's request for a protective order after the hip-hop star alleged that Lanez is harassing her from prison through surrogates as he serves a 10-year sentence for shooting her in the feet.

The order was granted after a hearing. Michael Hayden, Lanez's attorney, wrote in an objection to the restraining order request that his client's incarceration means there “is no longer any form of current or future threat” to Megan and there has been no direct contact between the two recently.

A summary of Thursday's hearing said Bloom found that Megan's lawyers had met the burden of proof to extend a temporary restraining order until Jan. 9, 2030.

Hayden did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

Megan obtained the temporary order in November after alleging Lanez, a Canadian rapper whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is using third parties to continue to harass her online.

The petition says call logs at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi show that Lanez is coordinating attacks on Megan’s credibility, including making false claims that the gun and bullet fragments in the case are missing.

In December 2022, Lanez was convicted of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

A judge rejected a motion for a new trial from Lanez’s lawyers, who are appealing his conviction.

Megan testified during the trial that Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV they rode in leaving a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home.

Megan, 29, was already a major rising star at the time of the shooting, and her music’s popularity has soared since. She won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No. 1 singles with “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s” WAP.”

Lanez, 32, began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major label albums. His last two reached the top 10 on Billboard’s charts.

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Ed Sheeran goes back to school to launch new music foundation

LONDON — Ed Sheeran wants people to take music in schools seriously.

The British singer-songwriter has set up a foundation to ensure that kids in the U.K. get access to “high-quality” music education.

Sheeran started writing songs from a young age, after encouragement from a teacher, and says he wants to help plug the gap left by reduced arts funding. To support the launch of the foundation, the Grammy-winner is visiting schools and youth groups in Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh and Belfast.

Addressing a group of pupils in Wales on Thursday, alongside his songwriting partner Amy Wadge, Sheeran said that music should be treated as a legitimate career option.

“Britain has this sort of thing where it’s pushing people toward being bankers or like working in tech or finance or like all this sort of stuff,” said Sheeran.

“We’ve basically just come here today being like, We’ve done it. We both came from state school education and all that takes is you guys having confidence built in you by the teachers around you,” he added.

Sheeran has a special connection with Wales: as a teenager, he visited Wadge in the Welsh capital, Cardiff, to work on his songs, an experience he described as a “key stage” of his life.

He treated pupils to a performance of one of his biggest hits, “Shape of You” and also duetted with young musicians at a Cardiff youth group.

So far the Ed Sheeran Foundation says it has supported 18 grassroots music education organizations or state school music departments, which will improve access to instruments and lessons for 12,000 children.

The organization says it also aims to advocate for the “essential role” of music teachers and the way music can transform the lives of young people.

In an Instagram post about the initiative, Sheeran says he wants children to benefit from music education, just as he did.

“It was incredible for my mental health as a kid, feeling a sense of purpose and achievement, even just learning piano or cello at a young age way before songwriting. I want kids to be able to learn instruments, learn production and songwriting, performing, and have apprenticeship schemes help them learn different skills to enter the industry.”

Sheeran also underlines the amount of people employed in the music industry, aside from the onstage talent, adding that 150 people work on his tour.

A report by UK Music said 216,000 people in the U.K. were employed in the music industry in 2023.

From combined wire services